After an extremely passionate and also boring opening speech, the assessment battle finally began.
Axel roughly glanced at the battles in front. Some of the gym trainers were teachers from various schools, and some were practitioners from other Pokémon-related professions.
Even more absurdly, Axel even saw among those people some officers from the Public Security Bureau and karate instructors from martial arts schools.
To sum it up, all these people were extremely brutal, beating the examinees until they were crying out loud.
Fortunately, Metagross's scoring system was very fair. Even in defeat, corresponding points would still be given.
As long as the examinee wasn't completely without self-awareness, most would still be able to get into their chosen volunteer placement.
Soon, it was the little loli's turn.
Her opponent was an uncle dressed in karate attire. His Pokémon was a level 19 Mankey.
This Pokémon was covered in pale yellow fur, with brown at the ends of its limbs, and looked like it had a very bad temper.
Though it didn't look high-level, in reality it could already beat 80% of Emberpine City's population.
After all, most Pokémon had only ordinary potential. A Pokémon capable of reaching elite potential would at least be the leader of its group in the wild.
The referee quickly got into position.
"This challenge is a gym volunteer assessment match. The defender is Karate Coach Tyson. The attacker is examinee Eva Elsie."
"Please choose the number of Pokémon for the battle."
In volunteer assessment matches, it was usually up to the examinee to decide the number of Pokémon.
This was also to let the examinee display their strongest capabilities.
After all, some people liked to put all their resources into one Pokémon, while others liked to capture more Pokémon and win with numbers.
As long as you don't abandon or abuse your Pokémon, both training styles are recognized by Donghuang.
Facing the referee, the little loli immediately dropped the little devil act she used around Axel, and crisply said:
"I choose a 1v1 battle!"
The referee nodded, "Both sides enter the field. This match's rule is a 1v1 battle. Neither side is allowed to switch Pokémon, and cannot return them into Pokéballs."
"A loss will be declared when one side's Pokémon loses the will or ability to battle. Now I announce the start of the match!"
The moment the referee pressed the recording button, a countdown of three-two-one immediately sounded across the field.
Two beams of light flashed past. The now level 17 Smoliv appeared, standing opposite the opponent's Mankey.
Seeing the fierce expression on the Mankey's face, the timid Smoliv instinctively took a half-step back.
Only after the little fellow touched the Star Peach Berry it carried did it bravely look toward its trainer.
'Master, I'm ready!'
Perhaps it was the loli physique trait of the little girl that worked, or maybe the karate uncle was just confident in his strength, but they didn't initiate an attack. Instead, he made a "please go ahead" gesture toward the little loli.
"Then I'm going, Uncle!"
The little loli spoke crisply. Her cute smile nearly made the fierce Mankey feel like turning against its own trainer.
'Damn it, they always say I have a bad temper.'
'If you smiled charmingly at me every day like that trainer over there, I'd be willing to die for you once too!'
"Smoliv, use Leech Seed!"
"Smol~"
Smoliv made a cute sound from its mouth. A small hole opened on the olive atop its head, and a seed shot into the air, landing precisely on Mankey.
Under the effect of this move, the opponent's stamina would continuously flow into Smoliv's body.
Mankey felt something wrong with its body and immediately looked fierce.
'This doesn't seem like something a sweet little loli should be doing!'
The karate uncle no longer hesitated and immediately ordered Mankey to act, starting with a killer move.
"Use Seismic Toss!"
This move was one of the signature skills of Fighting-types. As one's level and physical stats increased, the power of this move would also rise. It's a skill that never goes out of style.
That Mankey could become a commonly-used Pokémon despite its bad temper was because its species could master this move early.
According to the karate uncle's estimation, with Mankey's current physical strength, it could defeat Smoliv in three moves at most.
"Good, good, no chance of crashing."
The karate uncle patted his chest, 'Such a tiny little loli, even if she's shady, how shady can she get?'
Mankey let out a roar and dashed quickly toward Smoliv.
Its base speed stat was already higher than Smoliv's, and with the level advantage, it quickly approached Smoliv.
It reached out and grabbed the unresponsive Smoliv, its muscular legs stomping hard on the ground, instantly leaping into the air above the battlefield.
Under Mankey's control, the two of them spun continuously in midair. Smoliv's eyes quickly turned into spirals.
Even though the little loli kept shouting for Smoliv to use Vine Whip, Smoliv was unable to resist in any way.
The little fellow had never received professional training and simply couldn't break free from the opponent's attack.
After a few spins, a cruel smile flashed across Mankey's lips, and it slammed the delicate body of Smoliv hard into the ground.
"Smol!", Smoliv let out a painful cry, tears in its eyes as it looked at Mankey. Then, somehow pulling out a Star Peach Berry, it began nibbling on it.
Two upward flashes of light passed, and Smoliv's movements suddenly seemed to speed up, easily dodging Mankey's next Seismic Toss.
A green light flashed across Mankey's body, the Leech Seed took effect. Smoliv's injuries began to recover.
The karate uncle's face didn't look good.
Though one Star Peach Berry wouldn't be enough to flip the battle, if the fight went beyond five rounds, he'd be ridiculed by his peers.
Just as the karate uncle was thinking of ordering Mankey to quickly end the battle, the little Smoliv suddenly grew confident.
With a self-assured glint in its eyes, it looked at its trainer.
Eva waved her delicate hand, "Smoliv, use another Star Peach Berry!"
Karate uncle: "???"
'What the hell, if you've got connections backing you, then don't bother taking the exam.'
'Cheating this blatantly, what even is this?'
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